Automotive Advertising Basics Should Never Be Downplayed
JKR Advertising believes a successful ad campaign includes the automotive advertising basics. Do you have the necessary traffic at your dealership (in person or online) to be successful? Once customers arrive at your store, what are you doing to motivate them to buy your cars and services?
Our advertising professionals come from many different areas of the automotive world. JKR Partner Richard Brauns is the perfect example. Brauns was the longtime General Manager of his family’s dealership, so he has a full understanding of working in the automotive trenches.
Don’t Ignore Automotive Advertising Basics
Brauns firmly believes that if a dealership doesn’t have the right blend of advertising, they’re doing themselves a disservice. “Despite the changes in technology, the basic premise of advertising is still the same,” he said. “No matter how you do it, the best way to get sales is by bringing customers into your showroom. Your showroom can be either the physical, brick-and-mortar store or your online presence. But whether you do it via phone call, the Internet or through radio or TV, you need solid leads. Sometimes, getting back to the automotive advertising basics is the best thing to do.”
Brauns says the use of automotive digital media is a must – and JKR offers a wide array of these services – but there are times when auto dealers overemphasize the digital side. “Internet marketing is, of course, an integral part of what car dealerships do, and it should be,” Brauns said. “But sometimes, in their excitement over digital advertising they take their eyes off the automotive advertising basics that make a dealership successful – the ones that have been effective for car dealers for many years. Anyone trying to reach the masses to talk to them about their products and services is best served using intrusive media such as radio, broadcast TV or cable TV.”
Big Businesses Use Automotive Advertising Basics
To emphasize his point, he cites the country’s top Internet businesses. “You can’t turn on your TV or radio and go more than a few minutes before you’re exposed to an advertisement for an Internet-based company,” Brauns said. “Think about it. There’s Geico, Progressive, Allstate and Farmers in the insurance arena, and then you have Kayak, Hotels.com, Travelocity, Expedia and Hotwire in the travel industry. I read somewhere that Expedia spent $12 million in television ads alone last June. The product offerings of these Internet-based businesses are great, and they’re very convenient. But these companies also realize their customers need to be driven to their Web site before they can sell anything, and TV and radio are two of the major ways they execute this plan! If digital was the be-all and end-all in advertising, these companies wouldn’t spend large chunks of their budgets on conventional advertising. You must have both to be successful.”
Brauns has noticed an interesting parallel between these companies and auto dealerships. “If you watch the recent Geico commercials, for example, you’ll notice they’re making a concerted effort to promote all their services,” he explained. “They want people to know they insure more than just cars. Now Progressive and Allstate have followed suit. The automotive advertising basics give car dealerships the opportunity to remind their communities of who they are and what they offer.”
FREE Advertising Review
Do you know if your dealership has the right mix of digital and conventional advertising? To find out, contact JKR Automotive Advertising today. We’ll give you a FREE, no-strings-attached review of your current advertising and marketing efforts. But we don’t stop there; we’ll also tell you what’s going on with the other dealerships in your market, including what your competition is paying for their ads. How valuable would that be to you? This alone is worth your time!